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NCRC Releases Report on Impact of Foreclosures in Communities of Color

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) released a report, The Foreclosure Crisis and Its Impact on Communities of Color: Research and Solutions, on October 6. The report was prepared as part of an effort, in which NLIHC is a participant, led by the Annie E. Casey Foundation (AECF) to address the impact of foreclosures on communities of color.

The paper investigates eight priority questions by summarizing existing literature on each question and posing possible solutions. Among other findings, NCRC recommends that “foreclosure must be eliminated as a trigger for eviction,” and notes that the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act (PTFA) has been a useful tool in ensuring that tenants who live in properties that are foreclosed upon have the right to stay in the property for at least 90 days.

The PTFA is currently slated to expire at the end of 2014. It is expected that Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) will reintroduce legislation this fall that would make the PTFA permanent by removing the 2014 sunset.

The authors also cite research finding “it is estimated that among recent borrowers, nearly 8% of both Blacks/African Americans and Hispanics/Latinos have been foreclosed upon, compared to 4.5% of non-Hispanic Whites” and that homeownership rates for both groups are at their lowest levels in over a decade.

The authors conclude that for the impact of the foreclosure crisis on communities of color to be fully understood, additional research and data transparency is needed. The authors suggest the creation of “a national information clearinghouse that is systematic, searchable, and comprehensive is in the public interest and will strengthen the financial and social well-being of the nation.” The authors also note that federal efforts to address the impact of the foreclosure crisis on communities of color specifically are virtually nonexistent, and consequentially, “we will wrestle with the questions and problems discussed in this report for years, if not decades, to come.”